Air cleaner



NOV. 12, 19 40. H. N c gLsofl 2,221,717

AIR CLEANER Filed Oct. 51, 19:58

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Patented Nov; 12

UNITED f STATES PATENT o1=1=1cE 2,221,217 Am CLEANER Henry HarrisonNicholson, Boulder, Colo. Applicationbctober 31, 1928, Serial No.238,099

1 Claim.

This invention ,relates'to air cleaners for use in connection with thecarburetors of internal combustion engines.

One of the objects of the invention is to pro- 5 vide anair cleanerwhich is simple in construction, the parts of which can be readilyseparated for the purpose of cleaning and making repairs, and which actsnot only to remove practically all impurities from the air prior toentering the 10 carbureter, but also maintain a balanced air flow undervarying conditions. v

A still further object is to provide an air cleaner utilizing oil as awashing medium and also utilizing a means whereby any globules of oil 15which may be carried past the filtering means by the air stream, will beprevented from entering the carburetor.

A further object is to provide means whereby the pressure of air flowingthrough the cleaner is utilized to force oil into a filtering elementthereby to increase the efliciency of the device.

With the foregoing and other objects in view which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists of certain novel details of25 construction and combinations of parts herein after more fullydescribed and pointed out in the claim, it being understood that changesmay be made in the construction and arrangement of parts withoutdeparting from the spirit of the 30 invention as claimed.

In the accompanying drawing the preferred form of the invention has beenshown.

In said drawing v Figure 1 is a central vertical longitudinal sec- 35tion through the air cleaner a portion of the carbureter to which it isapplied being shown partly by full lines and partly by broken lines.

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2 Figure 1.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference I designates acasing which is preferably cylindrical and formed with an inlet slot 2extending partly therearound. This slot is surrounded by one end of anair intake funnel 3 extending outwardly from the casing and adapt- 45ed, in use, to project in such a direction as to receive a current ofair. For example if, the carbureter is used on a. motor vehicle, thisair intake funnel 3 will be extended forwardly.

The casing I has its bottom 3 inclined up- 50 wardly toward a concentricoutflow tube 5 extending upwardly within the central portion of thecasing and open at both ends, the lower portion of this tube beingprojected below the bottom 4 and formed with longitudinal slits 6 so 55that said end can be contracted about the inlet end i of a carburetor 8,the tube being held contracted by an encircling band 9 or the like.

A threaded stem I0 is located above the center of the tube 5 and isjoined to said tube in any suitable manner, as by means of downwardly 5diverging legs ll, riveted or otherwise attached to the inner surface ofthe .tube.

Secured in any suitable manner within casing l is a cylindricaldeflecting bafiie l2 spaced from the wall of the casing to provide anannular 10 chamber l3 and the lower end of this baflie can be flared andsoldered or otherwise joined to the bottom 4, as shown at [4, therebyforming the annular wall of an oil chamber l5.

A lid I6 is removably seated on and within the upper portion of thecasing l and is adapted to be held detachably in place by a nut IT orthe like engaging the threaded end of stem H) which projects through acentral opening l8 in the lid. This lid is provided with a dependingcylindrical air deflecting baflie H! which extends downwardly into thearea surrounded by the baflle l2 and has hangers 20 depending therefrom,each hanger being attached to a plate 2| constituting an oil baffle.This plate is circular and is provided with a large central opening 22,the plate being inclined upwardly toward this opening and overlying thegreater portion of the surface of the oil 0 contained within the chamber15.

A filter 23 is fitted snugly within the upper portion of the baffle I9and against the cover It. This filter, which is circular in crosssection, is made up of a number of layers of wire screens of fine meshand the screen is so shaped as to taper downwardly along curved lines toits lower end which is located within the opening 22 and not only fitssnugly against the wall of said opening but also against a sleeve 24which extends downwardly to the bottom 4 of the casing and is slidablymounted on the outflow tube 5. This sleeve, which terminates below theupper end of the outflow tube, has its upper end flared to provide anoil baflle 25 which overhangs the greater portion of the lower part ofthe filter.

When lid I6 is removed by unscrewing the nut H, the baflie l9, filter23, baflle 2|, and sleeve 24 can be lifted out of the casing l and thedeflecting baflie 12. Thus the interior of the casing can be cleanedreadily after which'a desired quantity of oil can be poured into thecasing so as to substantially fill the area defined by the flared lowerend M of bailiev I2. Cover I6 is then replaced, thereby moving thesleeve 2% into the position shown on the outflow tube 5 and bringing thedeflecting baflle l9 into the space defined by the distributing bame l2.The oil baflle or plate 2! will at the same time be brought close to thesurface of the oil so as to overlie it and the lower end of the filterwill be caused to project a short distance into the body of oil. The

cover is then secured in place and the parts are thus held properlyassembled. The entire filter can be connected to the carbureter eitherbefore or after the operation above described.

If thisair cleaner is used on a motor vehicle, the casing I is set insuch a position that the intake funnel will be extended forwardly in thedirection of travel. Therefore, during the forward movement of thevehicle, a current of air will be set up within the funnel to the inletopening or slot 2 where'this moving body of air Any air travellingdownwardly against and below the surface of the oil as a result of thepressure of the air within the cleaner, will, subsequently travel alongthe bottom of plate 2| carrying globules of oil with it to the lowerportion of the filter. All of the air will ultimately escape through thefilter and this filter soon becomes saturated with oil so that a finalcleaning operation takes place as the air fiows through the filter;Should any globules of oil be held in suspension by the air as it leavesthe filter and is sucked straight toward the end of tube 5, saidglobules would strike against the baffle 25 because it, is in the directline of fiow, and they are thus caused to rebound downwardly against thefilter and thus be prevented from entering the out flow tube 5 and thecarbureter 8. d

Importance is attached to the fact that, by reason of the new and novelassembly of parts, the cleaner can be separated readily for the purposeof cleaning the parts. Furthermore the effectiveness of the filter undervarying conditions can be maintained asdesired simply by adding layersof screening material to the filter or by removing some of the layers.

The oil baflie plate 2| acts to hold the lower portion of the filterproperly contacted about the sleeve 24 so that there is no possibilityof all passing upwardly from the circulating oil withm out passingthrough the filter.

The pressure of air upon the surface of the oil beyond the outer edge ofplate 2| of course tends to force portions of the oil constantly up intothe filter so as to maintain saturation thereof and effect more emcientcleaning of the air than would be possible otherwise.

What is claimed is:

An' air cleaner for carbureters including a cylindrical casing, anoutfiow tube therein and opening downwardly through the bottom thereof,the upper end of the tube being open and below the top of the casing, aflared oil baflle extending around the upper portion of the tube, anupwardly extended bafile mounted on the bottom of the casing and spacedinwardly from the wall of the casing to provide a concentric airchamberwithin the casing opening close to the top into the casing, an intakefunnel extending from the casing and opening into said chamber, a lidmounted on the casing and constituting a closure therefor, means fordetachably securing the lid in closed position, a baille concentric withthe tube and casing and depending from the lid within the spacesurrounded by the upwardly extending baflle, said bafiles being spacedapart, the

- flared baflle on the tube being positioned to Drevent fiow of airalong a straight line from the lower edge of the depending battle to theupper edge of the tube, a downwardly tapered annular filter carried bythe lid and extending from the upper end portion of the depending baifledownwardly to the tube, said filter being concentric with the tube andhaving its lower'end fitted snugly thereabout, a plate spaced from andconcentric with the tube and within the space surrounded by the upwardlyextending baflle, means i connecting said plate to the depending bafilefor supporting the plate around the lower portion of the filter andabove the bottom of the casing, and a body of oil within the casing, thelevel of the oil being such as to receive the lower end of the filterand be in close proximity to the plate, the positions of the battles andoil being such that air entering the annular chamber from the funnelwill fiow around the upwardly extending baiile and upwardly to the lidand be deflected over said baille and by the lid and downwardly betweenthe depending and upwardly extending bailles to the surface of the oiland then fiow upwardly over the plate to and through the filter andaround the conical baflle to the upper end of the outflow tube.

HENRY HARRISON NICHOLSON.

